1992 Volume 6 Number 3

Authoritarianism, Dictatorship and the Nigerian Press
1990 Press Law in Cameroon
Indigenized Philosophy of Communication
Radio and Rural Development

by the African  Council for Communication  Education (ACCE),

Nairobi, Kenya, ISSN  0258-4913

Copyright  ©1992

Africa Media Review provides a forum for the study of communication
theory, practice and policy in African countries. It is published three
times a year by the ACCE Institute for Communication Development
and Research, P.O. Box 47495, Nairobi, Kenya. Telephone: 227043/
334244 Ext. 2068. Telex: 25148 ACCE KE.

Correspondence and Advertising

Authors  should  send  contributions  to the  Managing  Editor, ACCE
Institute  for  Communication  Development  and  Research,  P.O. Box
47495, Nairobi, Kenya. Books for review, book review articles and all
other matters regarding AMR should be sent to the same address.

Subscription Rates

One Year
Two Years
Three Years

Africa

US$39.00
US$69.00
US$99.00

Outside Africa

$48
$90
$132

These rates include packing and postage.

Single copies are US$13.00 within Africa  and US$16 outside Africa.
Cheques or money orders should be made payable to African Council
for Communication Education and sent to the above address. Special
arrangements will be entered into where applicable for subscribers in
Africa  through  their  nearest  ACCE  national  co-ordinator.  ACCE
institutional  and  individual  members  receive  AMR  as  part  of
membership privileges.

Managing Editor

Editorial Assistant

Circulation

S.T. Kwame Boafo, African  Council
for Communication Education,
Nairobi, Kenya.

Angelina Mwashumbe, African
Council for Communication
Education, Nairobi, Kenya.

Rahab Gatura, African Council for
Communication Education, Nairobi,
Kenya.

ACCE President

Tom Adaba, NTA, Lagos, Nigeria,

(i)

Comments on the Contents of this Issue

Communication education, research and practice In Africa trace their
roots to the colonial era and hence have been Influenced by western-
oriented paradigms of communication and social theory. This issue of
the AMR presents papers which propose an Indigenized philosophy of
communication  education in Africa,  and  examine certain press laws
enacted both during the colonial period and In the post independence
era.

Chris W.  Ogbondah  compares  major  press  laws  enacted  in  two
major periods In Nigeria's journalism — the British colonial rule and
the period of military rule. He Investigates and compares the objectives
of the  laws  enacted  by  both  governments  and  public  reactions  to
them. In the  same vein, Ewumbue-Monono  Churchill examines the
1990 press law of Cameroon,  its objectives,  the  changes  It brought
about and its major  defects.

The  article  by  Stanford  Mukasa  and  Lee B. Becker  reviews  the
approaches to communication education study in Africa  in the post-
colonial  state,  and  the  growth  and  development  of  communication
education  in  Africa.  The  authors  then  analyse  communication
education resources and needs that must be dynamically  addressed
by policy makers in Africa.

Also attracting attention in this issue are the  role of radio in the
development  process  and  its  use  as  a  source  of  development
information,  particularly among the rural population. Polly McLean's
article analyses the application of radio In rural development by non-
broadcast professionals in Swaziland. She traces the history of radio
programming  produced  by  non-broadcast  professionals,  training of
non-broadcast professionals and their relationship with their audiences.
She concludes that Swaziland needs to train content specialists who
understand the needs of their target audiences for effective programme
production.

Stella Okunna In her paper presents a case study of the sources of
development among a select number of rural women in Nigeria. Her
study confirms that the mass media are relatively unimportant, with
the  exception  of  the  radio,  as  sources  of  development-oriented
information for rural dwellers In Nigeria and underscores interpersonal
communication as potent sources of information.

(ID

Table of Contents

1 

British Colonial Authoritarianism, African Military
Dictatorship and the Nigerian Press by Chris W. Ogbondah

19  The Right to Inform and the  1990 Press Law in Cameroon by

Ewumbue Monono Churchill

31  Towards an Indigenized Philosophy of Communication: An
Analysis of African Communication Educational Resources
and Needs by  Stanford G. Mukasa and Lee B. Becker

51  Radio and Rural Development in Swaziland by Polly E.

McLean

65  Sources of Development Information Among Rural Women in

Nigeria: A Case Study by Stella Okunna

79 

Index to Volume 6

(iii)